Crying Tiger Wild Thai Banana Foster. Credit: Madeleine Lyman

Juan Gutierrez: The Pastry Chef to Watch

9 Minute read

03 Apr 2026

Journalist

It is not often that diners are served a green, sparkling dessert in the form of a tiger head (evoking a fever-dream version of Aladdin) filled with Thai banana pie. It is even rarer when the flavor delivers and the dish is not just built for Instagram.

Pastry Chef Juan Gutierrez is the creator behind the now-viral namesake dessert at Crying Tiger in Chicago. The research and development process took five months, and at first, the idea was met with little fanfare. Gutierrez continued to refine it and pitch it to the team.

“Eventually, so many people saw it and were excited about it that it became difficult for people to say no,” said Gutierrez.

This inventive and persistent approach has become his signature.

At 30, Gutierrez oversees the development of signature desserts for more than 75 Lettuce Entertain You concepts across Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, and Austin. His portfolio includes some of Chicago’s most popular restaurants, including Summer House, Miru, Tre Dita, and Sushi-san.

For Miru and Tre Dita, both located in the St. Regis Chicago, Gutierrez developed desserts that reflect each restaurant’s distinct point of view. At Miru, a high-end modern Japanese restaurant, he designed a black sesame mochi dessert made with charcoal-vanilla ice cream, featuring black sesame praline and mochi sponge. At Tre Dita, Evan Funke’s upscale Italian restaurant, he drew inspiration from tiramisu to create a light olive oil cake layered with devil’s food cake, fleur de cao chocolate mousse, amaretto, and dark cherry, finished with a dollop of cream. At Summer House in Chicago, he introduced a Dubai chocolate cookie filled with pistachio cream, toasted kataifi, tahini, and European semi-sweet chocolate.

Juan Gutierrez

Born and raised in Cartago, a small city west of Bogotá, Colombia, Gutierrez grew up in the kitchen, cooking alongside his mother and grandmother every Sunday.

“It was a nice escape from everything,” said Gutierrez. “I was in the closet, so there was not a lot that I used to do besides just stay in the kitchen. It was my safe place.”

Gutierrez was raised by a father who expected him to follow in his footsteps as a doctor. From an early age, he supplied him with medical books in the hope of giving him a head start. Gutierrez chose a different path and became a pastry chef.

“I went to medical school for six months and then realized that that was not my dream. That was my parents’ dream,” said Gutierrez. “They took me to a psychologist to figure out what was wrong with me. At that time, being a chef was just becoming more acceptable. In Colombia, a chef is not the type of career your parents want you to follow, because it’s not seen as a successful option.”

Before turning 18, Gutierrez had already completed stints in culinary and pastry school, which he describes as “so bad” and far from what he envisioned. It sent him on a search for a program where he could refine his interest in imaginative desserts with a more disciplined approach to flavor. He eventually landed in Chicago at the French Pastry School, one of the only culinary programs in the United States dedicated exclusively to pastry.

His first job was as a pastry chef at the iconic Pump Room in Chicago under Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. He later moved to Gilt Bar, then Longman & Eagle, where he was named executive pastry chef at the MICHELIN-starred restaurant at 24 years old.

“They loved what I presented for my tasting during the interview process, but they said my style didn’t match the restaurant,” said Gutierrez. “I'm like, ‘Fair. But that’s the beauty of cooking, we can adjust, and we can play around with things and I’m ready to take your program to a different level.’ They offered me the job. I accepted and honestly, I never changed my style.”

By the time the pandemic hit, Gutierrez was working at the Virgin Hotel in Chicago. He was furloughed and used the downtime to teach himself how to temper, paint, and manipulate chocolate. He documented the process on Instagram, which caught the attention of a casting producer for Netflix’s competition show, School of Chocolate.

“I did a casting for seven months,” said Gutierrez. “I thought I didn't make it because nobody was calling. Then a producer from Food Network reached out about another show and offered me a spot. I thought about it and decided to take a risk. I said, ‘thank you so much, I appreciate it,’ but turned them down. Maybe it was a test or something, because the next day, right at 8 a.m., I got a call from Netflix saying, congratulations, you made it on the show. It was like a movie. I dropped the phone and I started crying.”

Gutierrez went on to win the competition, catapulting him to the next level of his career. He has since competed on Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking and Chopped Sweets, and appeared on the most recent season of The Ultimate Baking Championship, which premiered in March 2026 on Food Network. He also developed UNION, a line of chocolates inspired by the terroir and cacao heritage of his homeland, and teaches at pastry schools around the world. Prior to joining the Lettuce Entertain You team, he served as executive pastry chef at the Four Seasons Chicago.

Beyond the accolades and career milestones, Gutierrez measures success in more personal terms: the impact he has on others and the healing he finds in his work.

“My job is to make sure that I inspire people to become the best of themselves and to not lose their courage,” said Gutierrez. “It's been such an amazing experience. Pastry is what helps me heal the darkness, the pain that I still have inside.”

His family has since come around to recognizing the power Gutierrez wields through his sweets. At 30, he is already an industry veteran with plenty of runway ahead. What comes next will be worth watching.

Try Making Juan Gutierrez's Calamansi Meringue Pie

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Calamansi Meringue Pie

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The Chef

Colombian-born pastry chef Juan Gutierrez oversees desserts across more than 75 restaurants, building a career defined by technical precision, creative range, and a clear personal point of view.

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